The Dad Pact Academy: Real Life Tips For Dads On Raising Children

The 10 Most Important Things Separating Amazing Dads From OK Ones

Who needs parental books, right? Well, everyone really, but some things are just common sense. Your paternal instincts will kick in once the little bundle of joy is in your arms, but for the things that the books don’t tell you about raising children, we’ve got your back.

We’ve asked three AskMen parents to key you in on some tips for new dads to pass along that will make life as a new dad just a bit easier.

Babyproof Your Man Cave

Baby-proofing your house is a must. Gate the stairwells, plug the electrical outlets, stick bumpers on table corners and place childproof covers on doorknobs and locks on cabinets. Those are the obvious. What you might also want to do is baby-proof your man cave. Purchase extra gating for your precious big screen television and surround sound system so that the child can't stick their Lego pieces into the Blu-ray player or use your universal remote as a hammer.

Diaper Change

Make sure you change your baby’s diaper at a perpendicular angle or else you will get pee and poop all over you. Also, if you have a boy, cover his penis with a rag while you change or else it will end up on the ceiling, the walls, in his hair — everywhere.

Sign Them Up For Chores ASAP

When they reach the right age, which is often earlier than you think, enlist them to help you with your chores. Kids are always keen to learn and more helpful than parents give them credit for. Their help may slow you down at first but the positive experience is worth the delay.

Baby Sleep

Everyone will tell you how to get your kid to sleep more, or when they should start sleeping X amount of hours per night. Every kid is different. Whatever sleeping situation works best for you is the best move. Trust your intuition. Some nights, it’s just easier for us to have our little man sleep in our bed with us, and there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as it’s not driving any sort of divide with your spouse.

Keep Up With Your Child’s Social Life

Make sure you keep your child in the company of other children through play dates, activity groups or simply regular visits to your local playground. This should begin as soon as your child can crawl. The constant interaction will build their social skills. They will learn early on to play nice and communicate with their peers, preparing them for the day when they venture out on their own at school. Also, when kids are occupied with each other, it provides you with the rare moment to sit back.

Don’t Get Mad

Babies will fuss and cry and do things for what seems like no reason. They can’t tell you why they’re upset, and when you’ve done everything you can to soothe them and they’re still acting up, it’s so easy to get pissed off and break down. Stop, take a deep breath, and take turns with your wife trying to soothe the little monster. 99% of the time it’s breast milk that will make him happy and sleepy.

iPads Are Not Babysitters

While we often look for a way to distract a child when we need to cook or clean, don’t make the TV or iPad your babysitter. Your child’s television time should be postponed to a later age or kept to a minimum. Watching cartoons does little for their imagination and often reduces them to mini-zombies. If you need to keep them distracted, try crayons, puzzles and other crafts that build their problem-solving or creative skills.

10-15% Of Babies End Up In The NICU

I wish someone told me that 10 to 15 percent of babies end up in the NICU after birth. My son had to be there for 12 days because my wife had to have an emergency C-section six weeks before his due date. I wish someone told me that even if you’re young and healthy, you might have a less-than-conventional birth. It can be scary to watch your fragile little baby under glass and with wires and tubes all over, but modern medicine is an amazing thing, so trust the process and stay positive.

Never Argue in Front of Children

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Radheyan Simonpillai, Entertainment Writer

When a child sees you and your partner arguing, it teaches them to do the same. You’ll have a hard time maintaining control when your child learns to disagree with you. Always discuss your disagreements with your partner after the child goes to bed. If that means biting your tongue when you think a poor decision is being made, so be it. Undermining that decision will likely be worse.

Take Your Baby To Your Car

As with any other sphere in life, there are very few absolutes when it comes to looking after your baby. Due to this being a singularly fluid and flexible endeavor, no one is an expert. However, I have stumbled upon one particular tip which is so reliable that it might just save your life. Listen up and listen good. This is baby raising gold.

When your little one is crying the world down, the accepted wisdom is that you have to try four things to calm them down: Check the diaper, check if he's hungry, see if he needs you to burp him, or see if a hug will do. The rulebook says that if none of these things work, you go back to number one and repeat the process over and over until something takes.

And while this is definitely good advice, I personally am in favor of shortcuts. So why not try my magic number 5, which is… Take your baby out in the car; find your nearest freeway and just drive, brother.

To give my missus a bit of breathing space, I took him out, strapped him into the baby seat and made a bee-line for the M25, which is the London orbital freeway. It circles the city, going nowhere, and could almost have been designed to allow sleep-deprived fathers a place to get their babies to chill.

It’s obviously something to do with the rhythm of the engine, wheels, whatever, but within about a quarter mile of entering the freeway, my kid was FAST ASLEEP. And he stayed that way. It’s a genuine automotive miracle.